Inspirational Shakers

COURTESY OF BARBARA ERNST PREY

Red Cloak Blue Bucket (watercolor, 28X40 inches) by artist Barbara Ernst Prey features a red Shaker cloak and a pail from Hancock

Shaker Village made of pine and birch, with a blue painted exterior. This summer’s show at the village, Handled with Care, highlights the union between beautifully designed and highly functional Shaker craftsmanship. The exhibition features a similar pail from the Canterbury, New Hampshire, Shaker community, on loan from the private collection of Miriam and M. Stephen Miller. A second watercolor by Prey, Wood Work (40X60 inches), also will be on view in Hancock Shaker Village’s Chace Gallery through December 31. The two paintings return to their place of origin, first shown as part of Prey’s Borrowed Light exhibition in 2019. This summer’s Food for Thought series at Hancock Shaker Village features dinner with an artist, writer, or thought leader who delivers a talk about their work. Prey kicks off this season’s series on Thursday, July 13, at 6 p.m. The Williams College alum and adjunct faculty member lives in Long Island and has homes in Maine and Williamstown. You can also view Prey’s monumental watercolor, Building 6 Portrait: Interior (9X16 feet), at MASS MoCA, where it is on permanent exhibition. Her work also resides in the National Gallery of Art, the

Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New-York Historical Society, the White House permanent collection, and other notable locations. “These large watercolors continue my fascination with interiors following up on the MASS MoCA

and White House Christmas card commissions, both interiors,” says Prey. “The light, color, design and spirituality of the Shakers and Shaker architecture are inspirational.” barbarprey.com, hancockshakervillage.org

—Anastasia Stanmeyer

From the pages of our May/June 23 Issue